30 MAKING OF A FLOWER GARDEN 



papers and the sash closed until such time as the 

 plants appear, when the papers should be removed 

 and replaced on top of the glass directly above the 

 plants and the sash slightly raised to admit air. 



Air is very necessary to plant growth and one 

 should aim to give as much as possible without chill- 

 ing the plants. On sunny days the sash can be raised 

 from the start a few inches if the precaution is taken 

 to throw a rug over the opening of the sash on the 

 windward side and to close the sash as soon as the 

 sun has left it. It is equally important to raise it as 

 soon as the sun raises the temperature inside suffi- 

 ciently, as the heat increases very rapidly under glass 

 under a direct sun, and it requires but a brief season 

 of too high temperature to lay low an entire planting 

 of seed, some plants being especially susceptible to 

 burning. 



The hotbed should not be allowed to dry out or 

 be kept too wet. It is best, usually, to water in the 

 morning, unless very dry at night and the weather 

 promises to be dry ; a good wetting at night followed 

 by a stormy day or several days necessitating the clos- 

 ing of the bed may spell disaster, for there is no way 

 of drying out a bed in wet weather. 



Protection will be needed on stormy days and nights. 

 For this there is nothing so good as straw mats. Fail- 

 ing these, old carpet makes a warm covering, espe- 

 cially if protected by a canvas cover to shed rain. A 



